✅Follow local evacuation orders!✅Prepare for life-threatening, catastrophic flooding over portions of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states late this week into early next week. pic.twitter.com/IWlJYKOZBS

The storm is wider than the mitten-shaped state, The Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

Its current 340-mile diameter is a third larger than Michigan, which is only 240 miles wide. (And no offense to Michigan, but we've always considered it kind of a wide state.)

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Source: Google Maps, NASA

You could probably fit 4 Tennessees inside it

The state of Tennessee stretches about 440 miles east to west.

Based on the projection that Florence could ultimately reach 500 miles, Florida Today reported that the hurricane is almost as deep as Tennessee and four times as wide.

Anyone who has ever driven across Tennessee — one of those states that never seems to end — should appreciate that statistic.

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Source: Google Maps, NASA

It could probably fit across North Carolina

Here's where things get scary: News outlets in North Carolina have estimated that Florence, at its current diameter of 340 miles, could stretch from Cape Lookout along the coast to Wilkesboro in the west.

And despite the storm downgrading to a Category 2, it still poses a major threat. That's one of the reasons why, no matter how far inland they live, virtually the entire population of the Carolinas is looking at a potentially dangerous situation.

This is what the eye of Hurricane Florence looked like from the International Space Station on Tuesday, Sept. 11, as the storm was swirling in the Atlantic Ocean and heading towards the Carolinas. (ESA/NASA)

How does Florence measure up to past hurricanes?

Superstorm Sandy was a monster. At one point, Sandy reached a 1,120-mile diameter over the Atlantic before hitting land, and its tropical storm force winds spread out for 870 miles when it made landfall, according to NOAA.

And when we're talking about a hurricane of this size, the potential for damage is immense.

Tony Broccoli, the chair of Rutgers University's Department of Environmental Sciences, said it's too early to estimate how much damage Florence could cause, or to predict the cost it'll create.

"So much depends on details of where the storm hits, and how much rain falls," he said.

Both of those factors are still uncertain, given the hurricane's erratic path so far.

Hurricane Katrina leads the way for the highest amount of post-hurricane insurance payouts with 167,985, amounting to $16 billion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The average paid loss was $97,140.

NOAA reported the following damage costs for hurricanes throughout the 2000s:

Katrina (2005): $161 billion

Harvey (2017): $125 billion

Maria (2017): $90 billion

Sandy (2012): $71 billion

Irma (2017): $50 billion

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The storm surge from Hurricane Sandy breached the oceanfront in Mantoloking, as shown in this photo taken two days after the Oct. 29, 2012, storm. Five years after the storm, many residents say they still are not home yet. (Andrew Mills | The Star-Ledger)

Are there any saving graces?

There could be some trade-offs, Broccoli said. Since the wind speed has weakened over the past day, the places that will be affected by the strongest winds could experience less damage than was expected when Florence was still a Category 4.

But other impacts can still be large, he said. Though the wind speed has gone down, a storm of Florence's magnitude could still create a significant storm surge.

"I don't think that's going to diminish very much," Broccoli said.

The storm's large size and slow speed means more heavy rain spread across the East Coast.

"We're no longer talking Category 4, and the winds went down considerably," he said. "But the storm has become bigger, and it's not any less wet than it was before. We'll hear a lot about rain, storm surge and strong coast winds the next few days."